A belief suicidal
The educated belief that Soul is in the body causes
mortals to regard death as a friend, as a stepping-stone
39:12 out of mortality into immortality and bliss.
The Bible calls death an enemy, and Jesus
overcame death and the grave instead of yielding to them.
39:15 He was "the way." To him, therefore, death was not
the threshold over which he must pass into living
glory.
Present salvation
39:18 "/Now/," cried the apostle, "is the accepted time; be-
hold, /now/ is the day of salvation," - meaning, not that
now men must prepare for a future-world salva-
39:21 tion, or safety, but that now is the time in which
to experience that salvation in spirit and in life. Now is
the time for so-called material pains and material pleas-
39:24 ures to pass away, for both are unreal, because impossible
in Science. To break this earthly spell, mortals must get
the true idea and divine Principle of all that really exists
39:27 and governs the universe harmoniously. This thought is
apprehended slowly, and the interval before its attain-
ment is attended with doubts and defeats as well as
39:30 triumphs.
Sin and penalty
Who will stop the practice of sin so long as he believes
in the pleasures of sin? When mortals once admit that
40:1 evil confers no pleasure, they turn from it. Remove error
from thought, and it will not appear in effect. The ad-
40:3 vanced thinker and devout Christian, perceiv-
ing the scope and tendency of Christian healing
and its Science, will support them. Another will say:
40:6 "Go thy way for this time; when I have a convenient
season I will call for thee."
Divine Science adjusts the balance as Jesus adjusted
40:9 it. Science removes the penalty only by first removing
the sin which incurs the penalty. This is my sense of
divine pardon, which I understand to mean God's method
40:12 of destroying sin. If the saying is true, "While there's
life there's hope," its opposite is also true, While there's
sin there's doom. Another's suffering cannot lessen our
40:15 own liability. Did the martyrdom of Savonarola make
the crimes of his implacable enemies less criminal?
Suffering inevitable
Was it just for Jesus to suffer? No; but it was
40:18 inevitable, for not otherwise could he show us the way
and the power of Truth. If a career so great
and good as that of Jesus could not avert a
40:21 felon's fate, lesser apostles of Truth may endure human
brutality without murmuring, rejoicing to enter into
fellowship with him through the triumphal arch of
40:24 Truth and Love.
Service and worship